


A Sweet Apology

by ZellieAlmasy



Category: Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy VIII
Genre: M/M, Post-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-24
Updated: 2015-07-24
Packaged: 2018-04-10 22:10:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4409639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZellieAlmasy/pseuds/ZellieAlmasy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zell doesn't always think before he opens his mouth.  When he accidentally hurts Seifer's feelings during their usual banter, he thinks of a nice little way to apologize.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Sweet Apology

After the defeat of Ultimecia, Cid gladly invited Seifer back to Garden. It was a widely unpopular decision, and to the relief of many students, Seifer did not accept the offer. At least, not right away. The reason he gave was that he wanted to enjoy the freedom that the military life had never been able to offer him, but mostly it was because of an overwhelming sense of guilt. Of course, Seifer would never openly admit that. He could barely admit it to himself, but he knew there was no way he could walk down those halls again with his head held high or look his classmates in the eye after everything he had done. Seifer never even felt wanted in Garden to begin with.

However, he finally decided it was time to return to Balamb Garden. Of course, it wasn't long enough for his classmates to have forgotten how he betrayed them all to lead Ultimecia's army. Seifer had always provided an intimidating presence, but somehow, he seemed to clear the halls even more quickly than before. Everywhere he went, he noticed Cadets and SeeD alike whispering while glancing in his direction. With just one glare from Seifer, they'd instantly scatter. Nobody wanted anything to do with him, but he hardly cared about these random people scrambling to get far away from him. They didn't matter.

What the ex-knight truly dreaded, however, was having to face Squall and the rest of his orphanage gang. If the ordinary students were still so afraid of him, how would his presence affect the ones who actually fought him?

Seifer almost thought to turn back around and leave again. Living out the rest of his days peacefully in Fisherman's Horizon didn't sound so bad. However, his pride forced him to stay. He couldn't admit defeat by just some nasty glares, and he'd be damned if it could be said that he was afraid of Squall. So, he decided to stay.

It wasn't long, of course, before their paths did finally cross. Seifer had steeled himself for an awkward reunion, perhaps even a quick clash of their blades to work out any remaining aggression. There was a brief moment where they simply stared at one another, sizing each other up, neither wanting a fight, but both expecting one. Finally, Squall called truce first, offering a polite handshake. Seifer eyed him suspiciously for a moment, but accepted.

And that was all.

Seifer had honestly hoped for something more, even if it was a fight. He didn't deserve their forgiveness. But all he received from Squall, and even some of the others, was wary indifference. They tried to be friendly, but Seifer could easily tell that they were walking on eggshells around him, as if they were afraid that he might suddenly reveal himself to still be loyal to the sorceress, somehow.

Surprisingly enough, the one person – outside of his usual posse, of course – who made Seifer feel any sense of normality was Zell. If anyone had the right to hate him and avoid him the most, it was the little crybaby chicken-wuss that Seifer had picked on ever since they were children, but Zell was the only one who didn't give him that look like he was some sort of time bomb who could explode at any moment. Zell was the only one who treated him exactly the same as before the whole sorceress incident.

Their relationship never was quite friendly, but Zell had always been one of the rare few who actually had the courage to stand up to Seifer, and that hadn't changed, even after everything that had happened. Their usual exchanges may have been only senseless bickering, but it helped ease Seifer back into his routine. Once the others saw Zell shouting at him while facing no consequence, it helped the other students relax around him as well.

“Hey, chicken,” Seifer greeted as he passed by Zell in the cafeteria one day. “I didn't think they sold bird feed here.”

“Asshole!” Zell responded as he attempted to turn away and focus on looking for a seat.

However, he never had the best record when it came to ignoring taunts – a fact Seifer knew very well, so he continued to follow Zell. He even invited himself to sit down once Zell decided on a table.

“Go away! I'm tryin' to eat!!” Zell frowned, shooting Seifer a glare.

“I'm not stopping you.” The taller boy reached over to Zell's plate and stole a fry.

“HEY!!” Zell reached over and swatted at Seifer's hand, but it was too late. He had already pulled back and claimed the fry as his own. “Get your own food!”

“And wait in line? No thanks.”

“Jerk,” he grumbled around a mouthful of chicken.

“Isn't that cannibalism?” Seifer smirked as he helped himself to some more fries.

“I'M NOT--!!” Zell clenched his fists, getting distracted from his lunch. “Don't you ever come up with somethin' NEW to say?!”

“Why would I? It works every time.” Since Zell seemed distracted with yelling at him, Seifer stole one of his chicken strips this time and even paused to dip it in the barbecue sauce.

“And you owe me half a lunch!”

Seifer raised an eyebrow, pretending surprise. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

“Wh-- NO WAY!!”

“I honestly wasn't expecting that, chicken-wuss. I always knew you had a thing for hot dogs, but--”

Zell shot up out of his seat, slamming his hands on the table. “I said, GO AWAY!!”

“Or else what?” Seifer folded his arms over his chest as he leaned back in his chair, clearly showing no intent to leave.

“Or... Or I'll kick your ass! AGAIN!! Just like when you fought for the stupid sorceress!”

The expression on Seifer's face immediately darkened. Zell didn't mean to really hurt Seifer's feelings. Neither of them ever did. It was only ever harmless taunting, but the martial artist had a knack for running his mouth before his brain could catch up. That, and he genuinely hadn't realized how guilty Seifer felt about what he had done.

But even knowing that Zell didn't mean any real harm by what he had said, the words still weighed down heavily on Seifer. He scowled at the other boy as he pushed his chair back, almost violently. “Fine,” he snapped as he stood from his seat. “Eat your crappy cafeteria chicken.”

For once, Zell actually fell silent. He stood there, stunned, as Seifer turned and left the cafeteria without another word. They might not have been on the greatest terms with one another, but Zell had never seen Seifer like this. As much as he was always the target of Seifer's teasing, and as much as he always yelled back, Zell wouldn't ever truly hurt someone's feelings like that – not even Seifer's.

 _This is all Seifer's fault, anyway!_ Zell attempted to reason with himself. _He's the one that started this! And he deserves someone finally putting him in his place!_ But no matter how hard he tried, Zell couldn't justify what just happened. He was even unable to finish his chicken strips.

Two days passed, and still, Zell couldn't shake the guilt he felt over actually hurting Seifer like that. He had no idea if he should try to apologize, or even how to go about it, but their paths hadn't crossed since the incident in the lunch room. Either Zell was lucky, or Seifer was purposely avoiding him. It honestly probably would have been easier to have run into Seifer. They could fall back into their usual routine of teasing and bantering, and Zell wouldn't have to feel so guilty anymore. But that never happened.

The third day, Zell was suddenly struck with what he felt was an excellent idea.

He took some time off to go into town and visit his mother. It wasn't unusual for him to visit her, so nobody questioned it. While he was home, he convinced Ma to help him make a batch of cookies. Zell had no idea what kind of cookies Seifer liked, or if he even liked cookies at all, but chocolate chip seemed like a safe bet. This was probably a terrible, stupid idea, but Zell had no idea how to even begin an apology to Seifer, of all people. All he knew was that it was impossible to stay mad while he was eating some of Ma's home baking.

The next morning, Zell made sure to wake up bright and early to catch Seifer before he left his dorm. With a plastic wrap securing his plate of cookies, he marched himself to Seifer's room first thing in the morning and knocked on the door.

No answer.

There's no way Seifer had already left his dorm. He never was a fan of early mornings. Maybe he was still asleep? In that case, Zell continued to knock more loudly and insistently.

Finally, the door opened just enough to reveal a very groggy Seifer. His hair was tousled, and he wore nothing but flannel pajama pants, making it very clear that he just got out of bed. But as soon as Seifer saw who was knocking, he immediately attempted to slam the door in Zell's face. Thanks to years of training and lightning reflexes, however, Zell managed to catch his foot in the door to keep from being completely shut out.

“HEY!” he shouted, attempting to shove his way in.

“Don't you know what time it is, chicken-wuss?” Seifer snarled as he pushed his weight against the door in hopes of shoving Zell back into the hall. “I'm trying to sleep.”

Zell wasn't about to give up that easily. He pushed back against the door, surprisingly strong for his small frame. “It's time to get up, now lemme in!!”

“I don't need to deal with this first thing in the morning. Go away.”

Holding the plate of cookies with one arm, Zell used the other to continue wedging his way through the door. Had he been empty handed, he may have been able to squeeze through more easily, but the plate wasn't quite as flexible. “You're gonna make me drop the cookies!”

“The _what?_ ” It really was too early for Seifer, because in his confusion, he was thrown off-guard enough to accidentally allow Zell to slip through the door.

“The COOKIES!” Now that he was inside, Zell held up the plate to show Seifer the reason for this early morning disturbance. “I brought 'em for ya. They're homemade!”

It was way too early for Seifer to process this. He stood silently, eyes shifting between the plate and Zell's face. After a moment, he finally responded, “What's wrong with them?” This was definitely unusual, and especially the way their last interaction ended, a plate of cookies was the last thing Seifer expected anyone would give him.

“It's--” Zell hesitated, weight shifting between his feet as he glanced off to the side. “I just wanted to...” He trailed off, mumbling the last part of the sentence.

“You what?” Seifer raised an eyebrow, growing intrigued by the chicken's latest nonsense.

“I wanted to say m'sorry.”

Zell looked like kicked puppy. This was too good. Seifer fully intended to milk this for all it was worth. “What was that again? A little louder this time.”

“I SAID I'm sorry!!” Zell's eyes flickered up towards Seifer's face again, looking a bit angrier than one might normally look while attempting an apology. He lifted the plate, urging it in Seifer's direction.

The taller blond smirked as he took the cookies from Zell and placed them on a nearby counter. “You're sorry? What could goody two-shoes Zell ever have to apologize for?” Seifer was positive he knew what this was about, but he certainly intended to milk this while he could.

“Y'know, the other day in the cafeteria...” As he spoke, Zell crossed one foot behind the other, anxiously tapping his toe against the ground. “I didn't mean what I said.”

Seifer shrugged, already helping himself to a cookie. “I already forgot about it.”

“The thing about the sorceress! I didn't think you'd get so mad, and I wasn't tryin' to hurt your feelings for real or anything, even if you're a jerk sometimes...”

“Wow.” Seifer deadpanned. “What a fantastic way to apologize. Really, I'm moved.”

“No! No, I mean...!!” Zell's eyes widen as he realized what he just said. Insulting someone really wasn't the best way to go about this. He scrambled to think of a way to recover. “I just meant we don't always get along, but, y'know...”

Seifer just stared at Zell while silently munching on the cookie. If he just kept silent, he knew Zell would probably yammer on until he shoved a foot in his mouth, which was always amusing. Watching him get so flustered would never get old. It was actually kind of cute, in an odd way.

“It's just _weird_ seein' you look actually upset for real, and it's my fault. I wasn't thinkin', and I said somethin' mean but I didn't know it was gonna actually HURT you like that, and I won't mention it ever again and I'm sorry!!”

Seifer remained silent for a moment longer, just to watch Zell sweat, then casually replied, “Water under the bridge, chickie.”

“...That's it?” Zell hadn't expected them to hug it out or anything, but he also didn't think Seifer would be so casual about this after the way he stormed out of the cafeteria that day.

“I didn't think twice about it,” Seifer lied. The jab about the sorceress did bother him much more than it should have, but he couldn't allow anybody to know that. He did, however, offer a rare, genuine smile as he reached forward to ruffle Zell's ridiculous hair. “Tell your mom I said thanks.”

At first, Zell huffed in response and thought to deny that Ma had anything to do with it, but the smile caught him by surprise. He responded with a grin, rocking back on his heels. “I helped make 'em too!”

“Next time, I'll take oatmeal raisin.”

“Oh yeah?” Zell set his hands on his hips. “There won't BE a next time, 'cause I'm not gonna mess up again!”

“Of course,” Seifer responded with a knowing smirk. No matter how good Zell's intentions might have been, Seifer was quite familiar with the chicken-wuss' tendency to speak before thinking.  


As Zell turned to leave, Seifer was somehow struck with a rare sense of generosity. “Hey,” he called out, causing the smaller blond to pause at the door. Zell turned back to Seifer, tilting his head curiously. “Want some?” Seifer nodded his head towards the cookies. “It's too much for one person to eat.”  


“Geez, if I knew you were gonna complain about it...”  


Seifer gave an exasperated sigh. “I'm not complaining. Just-- Sit down before I change my mind.”

If anyone were to tell Zell that one day he would sit with Seifer in his dorm and civilly enjoy a plate of cookies together, he would have burst out laughing. Yet here they were, sitting together and sharing baked goods that Zell made specifically for Seifer. It was extremely odd, and Zell couldn't help but feel a bit on-edge at first. Once he realized that they weren't going to break out into some meaningless argument, he finally managed to relax and enjoy the cookies. He could hardly believe it, but maybe something good might come of this, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I started this on vacation and it’s been sitting on my computer just barely finished all along. So hey, I just did some quick editing and tacked on an ending, FINAALLYYY.
> 
> This was originally an idea I had for some kind of RP, but *COUGH* there’s nobody *COUGH COUGH* to play Seifer to my Zell *HACK* *WHEEEEEZE* so I just turned it into a quick fic.


End file.
